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Jim’s “out and about with GBRf” thread


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4 hours ago, CUTLER2579 said:

When I worked in Hartlepool the common saying was Labour could put a Monkey up for election and still win. After the last 48 hours I doubt that would still ring true.

I  stayed in hotels for a large part of my working life and although it sounds great the novelty soon wears off..

Thanks Jim for a wonderful  thread. I am not in very good health at the moment and so reading your thread and learning about the present day railway cheers me up no end.

Not a donkey... it is a cuddy..

 

Baz

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I once got stopped at Waddington by the wig-wag lights flashing, there was nothing on the runway or on approach that I could see, then a USAF F15 came over the fence from the other direction to that E3 in your video, followed a couple of seconds later by his wingman. Both pulled vertical after clearing the road, and before the lights had stopped there were just two specks high up in the clouds.

 

The BBMF often use Waddington for touch and goes, in either the Dakota or Lancaster, just to keep the pilots signed. Worth a visit if you like planes and are in the area...

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40 minutes ago, big jim said:

A quick vid of the somersault signal at the end of platform 7

Sorry to be pedantic (well, probably not really).  It’s a centre pivot arm (the arm and the spectacle plate rotate around the same pivot).  On a somersault signal the arm pivots separately to the spectacle.  Still unusual although not quite as rare as somersaults these days.  
The last place I saw somersaults was at Carrickfergus on NIR, but they all went when the Larne line was resignalled.

Paul.

P.S. Keep up the good work on the weight.  Having someone challenge you can be a great help.

Edited by 5BarVT
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I too know very little about planes, but for a few years we went to the Waddington airshow and it was always a great day out !!

The highlight was seeing the look on my son's face as the Vulcan took off, I think that was the first time he'd actually 'felt' a bass note !! :lol:

Maybe explains why both of us play rock music at slightly too loud a volume to be healthy !!

 

Pic of the same Vulcan you saw, with the airworthy one (at the time) just after it landed.

Think you can guess which planes were in the middle of their routine !

 

IMG_4158.JPG.1d8ff5922ebf8e4f8aa815d84e47cfee.JPG

 

Cheers,

Phil.

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37 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

Odd to see an EMR set at Shrewsbury. A long way from home.

Yes and no, it's a WMR unit that should by now have been transferred to EMR to start the replacement of the 153/156 units, but because WMR's Cif Cavities are not ready for service, the unit has been repainted but sent back to Tyseley to stay on the diagrams it had been working, if that makes sense.

EMR will eventually be getting the WMR fleet, whose three car units have been shrunk down to two, with the centre cars going to X-Factor Trains to add to their two car sets used on the Nottingham-Cardiff and Birmingham-Leicester and beyond routes.

Jim - if you've not tried it I can recommend the Keto diet - cut out as much carbohydrate as possible, eat as much meat and non-starchy veg as you like, and it's possible to get some serious weight loss.  I accidentally discovered the diet in an aim to control my diabetes, so I dropped all pasta, bread, potato and rice, reduced my cereal intake and not only lost four stone, but it came off my gut and I ended up having to reduce my diabetic meds, and was able to welcome back some items from my wardrobe I hadn't worn in years.  By cutting down on carbs, you force your body to convert fat reserves into acetone to provide the energy your brain needs.  Cutting out pasta and roast tatws was a bind at first but I'm now used to it and even though my carb consumption has crept up during lockdown, my weight hasn't, so it seems I'm still in ketogenesis.  There'll be loads on the diet on t'web.

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1 hour ago, big jim said:

I made a pact with a driver at Holyhead that once I got below a certain weight I’d climb a mountain with her, well that’s escalated and it looks like I’ll be doing it in aid of willows way cat rescue in Cheshire, I’ve got about 2 Stone more to lose before I said I’d give it a go so I’ve got to get some serious walking practice in now!

 

anyway back to last nights job, shrewsbury to derby with a Stone train 

 

caught the train from crewe

 

4S47 with DB 90s up front 

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DC Rail 60 in the bay

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TFW 158

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175

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323 in Tommy’s lane

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And my train to shrewsbury, a pair of 153s, wouldn’t fancy them all the way to Cardiff! Looks quite like a 155 unit in that pic

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Into shrewsbury, wmt 170s including one in freshly painted EMR livery!

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Units on the stabling point

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A quick vid of the somersault signal at the end of platform 7


I then took the train to derby 

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Today I went over to Lincoln to collect some items I bought from the classifieds before work, thank you Tim’s trains, pleasure to meet you, the items will be well looked after!

 

anyway I decided to drive back a different way as I was heading to bescot rather than home and I stumbled upon RAF waddington, more to the post its resident vulcan

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I know nothing about planes but these are E-3D sentry that I saw from the viewing park (which makes a mean egg butty!)

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one then taxied to the runway

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And away it went


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It was then over to bescot for a Stone train back to crewe

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waiting for the road at Stafford 

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and off at basford hall 

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Walked back to my car to get the steps in for the day, LSL blue Pullman HST on shed, never noticed it has a name until today 

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Colas 56 and DRS 57

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And that was that! 
 

small Heath to bescot tomorrow evening 

 

 

Jim,

 

If your looking for sponsorship when you do the mountain walk I'm sure quite a few people on here, including me, will be willing to sign up.

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8 hours ago, big jim said:

ive heard a lot about keto diets, im quite happy carrying on doing what i am which is just weight watchers.

 

i have cut down on bread, potatoes, cheese, chocolate etc, i used to get through a loaf of warburtons a day after toast for breakfast, cheese sandwiches, bread and butter with dinner etc, ill now have one slice a day if that, ive switched to wraps or thins

 

 chocolate wise ive gone from maybe 4 or 5 full size chocolate bars a day to one or two sugar free low calorie bars, crisps have gone replaced by things like lentil or pea crisps, similarly tea and biscuits used to be half a dozen bourbons now its one sugar free cookie to dunk

 

daily mc donalds are a no no, i can still have them but mainly the chicken stuff rather than beef burgers, i still have greggs egg bap breakfasts most days, they fill me up nicely and egg is a ‘free food’ the only points are on the bread roll

 

its been fairly easy so far, i do get cravings now and again for things like chippy chips or chocolate but have managed to resist falling off the wagon too often 

Hi Jim

have also done weight watchers in the past and did do well but it creeps back on after I hit my target but have had a ‘warning sign’ this time from the GP regarding my last blood results so trying again with some success. 
keep up the good work you said you already feel better for it and I found it hard to remember that feeling when craving a kebab!

Maybe you could set up a challenge to sponsor you to lose those last 2 stone to benefit the cats you foster? A fiver a stone or whatever?

Keep up the good work- back to the trains (and planes)!
mark

 

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I thought you might have been on our 196's as I passed one this morning as I was approaching New St. 

The Joy's of being a failure and waiting at your protection point thankfully I've only had to do it once. 

 

Cheers 

 

Colin 

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